On June 4th, an estimated 150,000 people filled Victoria Park, the largest park in Hong Kong, for a candle light vigil, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident, where hundreds, if not thousands, of student protestors were killed by their own country's military forces.
The Hong Kong Alliance (The Alliance), host of the event, announced that this year’s number of participants has exceeded all of the previous year’s gatherings since 1990. However, the police report showed that only around 62,000 people participated in this event.
With the theme, “Remember June 4th, Inherit the goals of those before us; Pass on the torch, Relay the message of democracy to those after us”, youths participated together with their friends and some were even engaged in performance arts, showing their will to not forget June 4th Incident.
The organizing committee for the event has arranged for those born in 1989 or those who are 20-year-old now to participate in the torch-lighting ceremony and read off the “Youth Declaration.”
One of the youths said, “We may not have the same passion as the students during the 1989 pro-democracy movement, but we are willing to empathize with their situation, and we also have dreams!”
Although China has developed rapidly within the last twenty years and has become prosperous, people in Hong Kong still hopes that the Chinese government can face up to the history of the crackdown on students in Tiananmen Square two decades ago. Representing the gathering, The Alliance read off a declaration, expressing that the Chinese government cannot tolerate Charter 8, human rights movements, freedom of speech on internet, religious freedom, and freedom of the press, so can China’s development today be considered as an actual advancement since 20 years ago?
The participants lighted the white candles; one by one the candle light appeared throughout the park until it covered the entire place. The crowd sang together songs titled “The Chinese Dream”, “Flower of Freedom”, “Twenty Years”, and various others. Furthermore, a moment of silence for one minute was held for the students who fell victim to the June 4th Incident.
Luke Leung translated the article.
